Human Capital Responsiveness to Emerging Workforce Skill Demand: An Analysis of Philippine BSBA Competency Standards
Leo Santiago III Arrabaca
*
Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, Corrales Avenue, Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental, 9000, Philippines.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Rapid technological and organisational changes are reshaping the skills required in contemporary labour markets, presenting ongoing challenges for higher education as a source of human capital development. This study examines the responsiveness of Philippine Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) competency standards to current and emerging workforce skill requirements. Using a qualitative comparative documentary research design, the analysis draws on the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 and the Commission on Higher Education's Revised Policies, Standards, and Guidelines for BSBA under CMO No. 17, s. 2017. Guided by Human Capital Theory, the study identifies workforce skills projected to be important in 2025 and expected to increase in significance towards 2030, then examines their correspondence with national BSBA competencies. The results reveal substantial but uneven correspondence. Philippine BSBA competencies offer a strong foundation in transferable cognitive, creative, managerial, interpersonal, communication, research, and general technological skills, while rapidly emerging technology-specific skills are less explicitly addressed. These findings indicate that the responsiveness of BSBA education should be evaluated not only through direct skill matching but also through its capacity to foster durable human capital and support adaptation to evolving skill requirements. Curriculum responsiveness is thus framed as an economic issue of human capital development. As the analysis is limited to two publicly available documentary frameworks, it does not evaluate institutional implementation, graduate proficiency, or labour-market outcomes. Future research should extend the analysis to institution-level curricula, Philippine employer perspectives, and graduate outcomes.
Keywords: Human capital, workforce skills, higher education, business education, curriculum responsiveness, Philippines